I have forgotten how much a difference a proper set up makes. I had my 350DX set up, and MAN, totally different guitar.

I liked it enough when I got the damned thing, but it sounds so much more... pure. Also, having the action lowered literally makes it a brand new guitar, making for a brand new experience. The strings are so close to the damned frets that you could practically BREATHE on them to get a chord!

I remember how my RG550 was set up about a month I had gotten it, and the result was the same as this time.

Here's a question - am I just assuming this, or is it that Ibanez are known for some of the best action available on an electric guitar, or is it simply the effect of a floating tremolo?

(Answers to that would be ducky).

Also, I am eventually going to have to learn how to set up my guitar on my own, and that means pulling the f*ucker apart - something I dread.

What's your experience in learning how to set up your guitar for the first time, and, looking back, was it worth the effort and overcoming the willies?

To be quite honest, a professional doing the setup is always recommended, unless you are a professional doing the job yourself, or you completely know your Ibanez well.. I have found several resources on the net, including links from our forum members on proper setup; intonation, string action height, truss rod adjustment,etc. Youtube has been a great resource for visual learners, which some of the vids aren't bad at all. I now set up my Ibanez guitars myself. You are correct about what a difference a proper setup can do for your lovely axe! Good luck!

Invest is a machinist's strait-edge and a set of feeler gauges. Measure you setups and keep notes. It helps greatly when buying another guitar and setting it up to the same specs. All your guitars will feel the same so that you will be consistent from one guitar, to the next playing-wise.

Here's a question - am I just assuming this, or is it that Ibanez are known for some of the best action available on an electric guitar, or is it simply the effect of a floating tremolo?

I think it's a combination of both. The super thin wizard necks is what gave Ibanez the reputation of low action from the factory, late 80's to mid 90's. Some members here get it even lower, without fretbuzz!

The Dizzy Vizzy wrote:

Also, I am eventually going to have to learn how to set up my guitar on my own, and that means pulling the f*ucker apart - something I dread.

You don't really have to pull it apart unless you are cleaning, or inspecting.. No need for all that during a typical setup.

The Dizzy Vizzy wrote:

What's your experience in learning how to set up your guitar for the first time, and, looking back, was it worth the effort and overcoming the willies?

A collection of material, books, online tutorials, some tips and tricks. Yes it was, I was shocked when my first intonation/truss rod adjustment worked out great. I started doing all of them! Very tedious process at first, but then it became about an hour job, new strings and all. Although there is the 2+ hours of testing it out when you cannot let go of the guitar!!

Invest is a machinist's strait-edge and a set of feeler gauges. Measure you setups and keep notes. It helps greatly when buying another guitar and setting it up to the same specs. All your guitars will feel the same so that you will be consistent from one guitar, to the next playing-wise.

I have NO IDEA what a machinist's strait-edge or a set of feeler gauges are, but by god, I'm going to find out.

Truly, thanks to everyone here that gives me the time of day with info, you guys are truly...

Here's a question - am I just assuming this, or is it that Ibanez are known for some of the best action available on an electric guitar, or is it simply the effect of a floating tremolo?

I think it's a combination of both. The super thin wizard necks is what gave Ibanez the reputation of low action from the factory, late 80's to mid 90's. Some members here get it even lower, without fretbuzz!

The Dizzy Vizzy wrote:

Also, I am eventually going to have to learn how to set up my guitar on my own, and that means pulling the f*ucker apart - something I dread.

You don't really have to pull it apart unless you are cleaning, or inspecting.. No need for all that during a typical setup.

The Dizzy Vizzy wrote:

What's your experience in learning how to set up your guitar for the first time, and, looking back, was it worth the effort and overcoming the willies?

A collection of material, books, online tutorials, some tips and tricks. Yes it was, I was shocked when my first intonation/truss rod adjustment worked out great. I started doing all of them! Very tedious process at first, but then it became about an hour job, new strings and all. Although there is the 2+ hours of testing it out when you cannot let go of the guitar!!

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Yeah I love good setups. They are great.

My favourite thing about setting up my own guitars is that *I* can directly measure my progress at learning by how well I can set up the guitar. :)

Quote:

What's your experience in learning how to set up your guitar for the first time, and, looking back, was it worth the effort and overcoming the willies?

The first time Ouija said you could pretty much just take the neck off the body with the strings still on to get the strings out of the way so you could work on the pickups, I was like, WHAT, I'm never gonna try that. Now I look back on it and laugh at myself. :P It's perfect too because the strings are always in tune when you put it back together, really amazing tip.

Yeah *definitely* worth the effort. There isn't much to be willied over as long as you have a complete brain though. Guitars and trems aren't *quite* as complicated as you think they are once you understand that they run off simple physics concepts.

Quote:

Very tedious process at first, but then it became about an hour job, new strings and all. Although there is the 2+ hours of testing it out when you cannot let go of the guitar!!

Lol, yeah man I hear that. First time I set up my RG, I spent literally 4 hours just adjusting the intonation. Now that it only takes an hour it's not nearly as bad, and pfft for how long it lasts, it's cool beans.

Then you simply aren't setting up the guitar. Your just leaving it and changing strings every now and then, as a lot of players do.

What about moisturising the fretboard, polishing the frets, levelling the frets, oiling the nut slots and seasonal adjustment of the truss rod (your neck doesn't stay straight, no guitar neck ever does without breaking certain laws of physics). What about tightening of the tuners (they can work themselves a little loose), adjusting pickup height for balanced volume between both pickups or tilting for balanced tone between high E string and low E string etc.

Lol, considering I have an Indo guitar I really don't think I should put that much care into my instrument. I take a micro fiber cloth and wipe the whole thing sometimes after I'm done playing, maybe wipe the fretboard once a week. The rest I just never really thought about doing (except the things that affect the quality of my tone, I have already adjusted my pickup height between the high E string and the low once since my last pickup change.)

Thanks for the tips though, I also color my nut slots with a pencil too before restringing if you consider that a setup.

Yes. I consider that a setup. If you've made ANY alteration to the guitar since taking it out of the box (altering bridge height/angle etc), you've essentially set it up. Your just so used to doing it you don't think of it as doing a "setup".

There are a LOT of players out there who simply take the guitar out of the box and NEVER touch a thing in all the years they play it. Not the nut slots, the nut height, the nut radius, not the height of the bridge or the intonation of the saddles, not the height of the pickups or the tilt of the pickups, not the condition of the frets or the condition of the fretboard, not the seasonal changing of the curvature of the neck and subsequent truss rod alterations, and/or any cleaning/polishing of the instrument or tightening of anything that's worked it's way loose.

Some people are just like that. There is nothing about hard tail guitars that don't require any less setup than a tremmed guitar. It's simply that a trem adds a few more things to do to the list.

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